Former Minister Calls for Escalated Israel Sanctions, Criticizes Netanyahu's 'Betrayal' Claims

Aug 20, 2025

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Former Industry Minister Ed Husic called Wednesday for Australia to escalate sanctions against Israel and accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of betraying international humanitarian law, as diplomatic tensions between the two nations intensified.

Husic, speaking on ABC's Afternoon Briefing, delivered some of the strongest criticism yet from a senior Labor figure following Netanyahu's public attack on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese over Australia's recognition of Palestine.

"When Prime Minister Netanyahu talks about betrayal, the betrayal really is of international humanitarian law," Husic said. "The betrayal is of kids and innocent Palestinians. We've had 60,000 innocent Palestinians killed, half of which are women and children."

The former minister said Netanyahu should focus on stopping civilian casualties rather than criticizing Australia's foreign policy decisions.

"I would suggest, respectfully, to Prime Minister Netanyahu, his bigger focus should be to stop seeing kids being killed or starved, full stop," Husic said.

Husic's comments represent the most direct personal criticism of Netanyahu from a prominent Labor figure since the Israeli leader accused Albanese of abandoning Australia's Jewish community following the government's Palestine recognition announcement.

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The former minister said Australia should work with international allies to impose additional sanctions beyond those currently targeting West Bank activities.

"I think we should be prepared to ramp up sanctions," Husic said. "Looking at what's happening in Gaza, we do need to hold decision makers to account for what's happening in Gaza. I think that's really important and we should remain open-minded about sanctions."

Husic argued escalation was necessary because "people still are suffering from starvation and the Netanyahu government doesn't seem to want to take a change of approach."

He noted growing Israeli domestic opposition to Netanyahu's approach, saying more Israelis are protesting that government actions won't help bring hostages home.

"They see this as an escalation that will not work in the interest of bringing back hostages, and that's what we really should be pushing for," Husic said.

The former minister also criticized the Coalition for consistently siding with foreign governments against Australia's positions.

"The Coalition needs to work out who they stand for, because every time a foreign government does something against us, the Coalition seems to side with the government that is criticising us, as opposed to looking at why we are doing the things that we are," he said.

Husic compared the current situation to Coalition responses to Trump administration tariffs, arguing the opposition "seems to make it an easy port of call to criticise the government instead of backing the country."

On domestic issues, Husic broke with apparent government direction by opposing any pause to the National Construction Code, despite reports the government is preparing such a move to accelerate housing construction.

"I'd be concerned about a pause to the National Construction Code because we would be successfully repeating the bad mistakes of the Coalition," Husic said.

The former minister argued previous Coalition pauses created massive disruption by forcing multiple simultaneous changes when updates resumed.

"The last time we put a pause on the National Construction Code, we ended up having to scramble and put a whole host of changes in that makes it really hard for the construction sector, the building sector to deal with a lot of changes at once," he said.

Husic described the current code as being "in a funk" due to major 2022 changes around energy efficiency and disability accessibility that accumulated during Coalition pauses.

"It's like trying to, like a snake trying to swallow a wombat, if I can use that mental image, probably incorrectly. It's just too big to digest at once," he said.

The former minister emphasized the importance of regular updates to maintain standards for energy efficiency and accessibility, particularly given climate change impacts.

He noted the construction sector faces multiple challenges beyond regulatory issues, including being 90,000 workers short and ongoing competition between construction and infrastructure projects for labor.

On artificial intelligence regulation, Husic defended his push for an economy-wide AI Act despite apparent government resistance to the proposal during ongoing economic roundtable discussions.

Husic said two years of consultations convinced him comprehensive legislation was necessary rather than addressing AI issues through existing regulatory frameworks.

"Given the sort of Swiss cheese approach that we've currently got with our regulations, there are about 12 or so legal or legislative frameworks that account for the potential impact of AI, but a lot doesn't," he said.

The former minister warned against reactive "whack-a-mole" responses to individual AI problems as they arise.

"Instead of setting up front with generative AI and the high risks of generative AI, what are the key risks and the impacts they might have on people, and what are the obligations on the designers and deploys of that technology," he said.

Husic distinguished between "garden variety AI" already in widespread use and more powerful generative AI requiring specific regulation.

On protest legislation, Husic expressed understanding for New South Wales Premier Chris Minns' position on potentially restricting future Sydney Harbour Bridge demonstrations while supporting continued protest activity.

"I had never been critical of Premier Minns because I think he was obviously looking at it from a very particular point of view about public safety and the ability to manage that many people in a short space of time," Husic said.

The former minister praised recent protests as demonstrating "the respect of the protesters in terms of making their point heard and doing so in a proper way."

Husic's intervention adds significant weight to Labor's position amid growing diplomatic tensions with Israel and internal party debates over construction regulations and AI policy frameworks.

The International Criminal Court has issued charges against both Netanyahu and Hamas leaders for their conduct over recent months, which Husic cited as evidence of failures to acknowledge international humanitarian law.

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